1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks keep falling amid mixed data

U.S. stocks declined for the third straight session Thursday, as investors digested a batch of mixed economic reports ahead of U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 78.57 points, or 0.48 percent, to 16,201.32. The S&P 500 lost 6.52 points, or 0.34 percent, to 1,932.24. The Nasdaq Composite Index moved down 18.27 points, or 0.38 percent, to 4,734.48.

The U.S. Commerce Department announced that sales of new single-family houses in August 2015 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000, beating market expectations.

This is 5.7 percent above the revised July rate of 522,000 and is 21.6 percent above the August 2014 estimate of 454,000.

In a separate report, the department said that new orders for manufactured durable goods in August slid 4.8 billion U.S. dollars, or 2 percent, to 236.3 billion dollars.

"With the Fed in no hurry to tighten, dollar appreciation should wane, giving a well-needed boost to durable orders in the fourth quarter," said Jay Morelock, an economist at FTN Financial, in a note.

Meanwhile, in the week ending Sept. 19, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims increased 3,000 from the previous week's unrevised level to 267,000, according to the U.S. Labor Department Thursday.

Traders are also focusing on Yellen's comments on inflation dynamics and monetary policy later Thursday, one week after the Fed decided to hold its benchmark rate unchanged.

Some analysts believed uncertainty about the timing of interest rate hikes by the U.S. central bank had led to increased volatility.

In corporate news, shares of Caterpillar fell 6.27 percent to 65.80 dollars a share Thursday, after the company said it would cut up to 5,000 jobs and lowered guidance. Endit